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TRAVELERS' HEALTH WEBSITE

Updated in 2013, the CDC Travelers’ Health website contains 2 separate portals with different content for travelers and clinicians (Figure 1-01). Travelers and clinicians also have the ability to select the type of traveler (such as “traveling with children” or “immunocompromised traveler”), which allows them to receive customized health recommendations for those specific populations. Revised travel notice levels are based on the level of the health threat and precautions that travelers can take to protect themselves. Other updates include information centers with resources for clinicians, travelers, and the travel industry, and a directory of travel-related illnesses.

Destination Pages

The most popular feature of the Travelers’ Health website are the “destination pages” (Figure 1-02). Each destination page has a clinician and traveler view that can be easily toggled back and forth. Destination pages provide health recommendations for a particular destination and include the following information:

Figure 1-01. CDC Travelers' Health website homepage

Figure 1-02. CDC Travelers' Health website sample destination page

Information Centers

The clinician information center (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/clinician-information-center) includes useful resources such as clinical updates on travel medicine–related topics, travel medicine–related journal articles, continuing education courses on travel medicine, and in-clinic quick links, which include immunization and special population content (Figure 1-03).

The traveler information center (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/common-travel-health-topics) consists of a series of printable fact sheets that cover >40 travel health topics written in plain language for the international traveler. Topics include travel health insurance, jet lag, motion sickness, cruise ship travel, and travel to high altitudes. The traveler information center functions as a traveler-focused version of the Yellow Book.

Disease Directory

The disease directory (wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/diseases) is an ever-expanding list of diseases that may be related to travel. It is intended to be a resource on rare as well as common infections, the risk to travelers, and what travelers can do to prevent them.

Travel Notices

CDC posts travel health notices about disease outbreaks and international events (such as natural disasters or mass gatherings) that may affect the health of travelers (Figure 1-04). The notices include information about what the situation or health risk is, who is affected, how travelers can protect their health, and links for more information. Travel health notices can be found at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices.

CDC posts notices only about confirmed events from official sources. Serious consideration is given to the impact, both positive and negative, before posting a notice. To determine whether to post a notice, CDC uses a standard decision tool that is based on the 2005 International Health Regulations and consensus from agency experts. CDC also uses disease-specific criteria to help determine when a notice should be posted.

CDC issues different types of notices for international travelers. As of April 5, 2013, these definitions have been refined to make the announcements more easily understood by travelers, health care providers, and the general public. See Table 1-01 for the revised definitions. Notices are assigned different levels based on their health recommendations. All notices describe levels of risk for the traveler along with recommended preventive measures to take at each level of risk.

Figure 1-04. CDC Travelers' Health website sample travel notice

Table 1-01. CDC Travel Notice Definitions

Notice Level

Traveler Action

Risk to Traveler

Outbreak/Event Example

Level 1: Watch

Reminder to follow usual precautions for this destination

Usual baseline risk or slightly above baseline risk for destination and limited impact to the traveler

Dengue in Panama-Outbreak Watch:
Because dengue is endemic to Panama, this notice most likely would signify that there is a slightly higher rate of dengue cases than predicted. Travelers are to follow “usual” insect precautions.

Olympics in London-Event Watch:
There may be possible health conditions in London that could impact travelers during the Olympics, such as measles. Travelers are to follow usual health precautions making sure they are up to date on their measles vaccine, follow traffic safety laws and use sunscreen

Yellow Fever in Brazil-Outbreak Alert:
Because an outbreak of yellow fever was found in areas of Brazil outside of the reported yellow fever risk areas, this would be a change in “usual” precautions. Travelers should follow “enhanced precautions” for that risk area by receiving the yellow fever vaccine.

Flooding in El Salvador-Event Alert:
There are possible conditions that could affect the health of the traveler and parts of the destination’s infrastructure could be compromised. Travelers are to follow special precautions for flooding

Level 3: Warning

Avoid all non-essential travel to this destination

High risk to travelers

SARS in Asia-Outbreak Warning:
Because SARS spread quickly and had a high case fatality rate, a warning notice signifies there was a high chance a traveler could be infected. Travelers should not travel if possible.

Earthquake in Haiti-Event Warning:
The destination’s infrastructure (sanitation, transportation, etc.) cannot support travelers at this time.

Mobile Applications

CDC has developed 2 mobile applications for travelers, Can I Eat This? and TravWell, in addition to the mobile version of the Yellow Book. All are available for iOS and Android devices and can be accessed from wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/apps-about.

Can I Eat This?

CDC’s Can I Eat This? application is intended to help international travelers avoid travelers’ diarrhea by guiding their food and drink choices. Travelers can select the country they are in and answer a few simple questions about what they are eating or drinking, and the application will tell them whether it is likely to be safe. In addition to helping guide their on-the-spot decisions, Can I Eat This? also teaches travelers about general principles regarding safe food and water. All recommendations are stored locally on the user’s device, so no international data connection is needed to use the application when traveling.

TravWell

CDC’s TravWell is a companion to the Travelers’ Health destination pages. It allows users to build an itinerary and receive destination-specific vaccine and medicine recommendations. For each itinerary, it also generates a customizable, destination-specific to-do list and packing list. TravWell also prompts users to set reminders for healthy behaviors, such as taking malaria prophylaxis or getting booster doses of vaccines. It also provides users with a place to store electronic copies of health-related travel documents, such as prescriptions or vaccination records.